6th May 2015 – Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson

We visit the Mile zero post of the Alaskan Highway in town. The Alaskan Highway is 2,379 kilometers long and runs from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks, however we are only going as far as Whitehorse. The highway was built by American and Canadian armed forces in 1942 to be used as a military route in the event of invasion during World War II.Today is sunny and the snow stopped overnight but it is only 3 degrees when we leave Dawson Creek. Our drive today is 453 kilometers to Fort Nelson. The Alaskan Highway is measured in miles from Dawson Creek, and at mile 21 is the curved wooden Kiskatinaw bridge that was built in 1942 and is still in use today.At mile 47 we cross the Peace Bridge at Fort St. John which was the site of the main army camp during the building of the Alaskan Highway. It’s a much nicer day today to be driving through the fields of snow.We drive past oil and gas fields that are in the middle of the forest. There are semi permanent relocatable buildings used to house workers and heavy equipment. It’s a big business up here and the towns cater for the workers. There was a sign in the laundry of the hotel we stayed at last night saying oily overalls are not to be put in the washing machine or dryer. The Northern Rocky Mountains come into sight again this afternoon.We stop for lunch at Pink Mountain at mile 140 and the cafe here caters for the workers in the gas & oil fields. We have homemade chicken noodle soup and a freshly baked bread roll, it’s very good. We stop at the 50th anniversary memorial of the building of the Alaskan Highway on Suicide Hill at mile 145.We arrive at Fort Nelson which is mile 283. ÿ ÿ